How to place images directly on object
The answer to your question asd71, is "sort of". You can place your 2D images directly on an object through the process of assigning image textures to materials, and assigning the materials to objects. And in one special case, one can assign an image to an object, specifically a plane object, and have the picture appear, something as a photograph of a painting.

However, it is not presently possible to assign an image like a star or a Coke&reg; to a Blender object primitive and have the object be modified to the shape of the star or Coke&reg; bottle. You must first create the mesh for the desired object, and then you can apply materials and textures to it.